By: Steve Grumm

Many public-service-minded 2Ls are presently balancing finals and the job search, positioning themselves to be in full job-search mode before 2012 goes to its grave.  1Ls should be focused squarely on finals, in my view, unless there’s a job application deadline before January.  But in the interest of helping summer job seekers get into gear, we hope that they will take advantage of the cover-letter and resume drafting tips we’ve assembled on our Career Central page.  Below are highlights from those resources and some editorializing from me. 

First, though, an important announcement: NALP (which runs PSJD) and Equal Justice Works will present a two-part “Summer Public Interest Job Search” webinar in early January.  The webinars, each 60 minutes long, will take place on:

• 1/15/13 – Noon Eastern – Cover Letters and Resumes
• 1/22/13 – Noon Eastern – Interviewing and Networking

We’ll circulate registration details in the coming weeks.  (In the meantime, you can view a version of this webinar we did last January.)

Okay, here are some cover letter and resume tips we’ve culled from resources on PSJD’s Career Central page:

• Distinguish a cover letter from a resume.  I like this intro from the Michigan Law’s “Creating the Public Service Cover Letter” handout:  “A cover letter is your opportunity to communicate confidence in your abilities, and to reiterate your commitment to, and enthusiasm for, public service work….  Tell [the employer]…the main things you want her/him to learn about you. You should write a letter which addresses the requirements listed by the employer in the posting, showing why you would be an asset to the organization. Letters that merely state your needs and wishes will not evoke an employer’s interest in you.”
  • The cover letter isn’t a reformatted version of your resume.  It’s a companion piece.  Through the cover letter you can tell the employer why this job is the right one for you and why you’re the right candidate for this job.  As noted above, you can pull out one or two of the resume experiences/skills that qualify you for the job and tell what  you did.  You can also express some passion in the cover letter (which is harder to convey in a resume, of course).  I like this very succinct statement about what a cover letter does, from Harvard Law’s Office of Public Interest Advising: “Your letter is an uninterrupted chance to tell an employer about yourself and to add depth to the credentials highlighted on your resume.”
• The cover letter for summer jobs should not exceed one page. (Unlike this blog post).   Employers will likely review many, many cover letters.  It always feels good on the reviewer’s end if a candidate can say what s/he needs to in one page.  (For postgraduate jobs, there may be reasons to go to a second page.  But even those instances are rare.  For a summer job, keep it to one.) 
• Be clear, concise, and conservative in the cover letter’s opening lines. 
  • DO: “I am a second-year law student at [school name] and I am writing to apply for a summer clerkship.”
  • DON’T: “My name is Steve Grumm and this job will be the first step on my path to becoming attorney general.”   First, you don’t need to waste space on your name because the reviewer is already able to find it from the email or letter envelope they received, from your letterhead, and from your signature line.  Second, this kind of attention-seeking bravado will do more harm than good in almost every instance.
• Need Experience to Get Experience(?) – as for resumes, many students confront the perceived “But I need experience in order to get experience!” conundrum.  They wonder how they’ll get consideration from an employer if they haven’t done similar work in the past.  A secret revealed: employers don’t expect you to have a ton of directly relevant public interest experience.  How could you?  Experience is what you’re trying to get, and you’re at the earliest stage of your legal career.  So the trick is to draw parallels and find related skills from past experiences that translate to the work described in a job listing.  An example:
  • A job listing for a summer internship with a group that advocates for migrant farmworker rights may read: “Interns will do outreach at migrant worker camps, interview clients, and educate migrant workers about their rights.”  Even if a law student has done no advocacy in the arena, s/he could draw from any of several past experiences that highlight closely related skills/experiences.  As examples, consider these possible resume bullet points, all of which would stand out to the farmworker employer:
    • “conducted rural outreach to over 75 households for 2010 U.S. Census”
    • “assisted in client interviews as a legal intern”
    • “tutored a class of 20 English as a Second Language (ESL) students”
    • “taught a ‘know-your-rights’ course to 35 high-school students”
• Ditch the “Objective” section.  If your college resume included the “My objective is to secure a position blah blah blah…”, ditch it.  Employers know your objective is to get a job.  Resume real estate is a valuable commodity.  Use that freed-up space for more valuable content.
• Use action verbs and numbers.  I like this tip from UVA Law about language choice: ” Use action verbs and specifically describe your prior work experiences to let a potential employer know what skills you have developed (i.e. drafted a motion to dismiss, deposed two witnesses) and don’t use acronyms when listing your activities (i.e. P-CAP).”
  • In addition to action verbs, numbers stand out, as in the above: “taught a ‘know-your-rights’ course to 35 high-school students.”  
• Bonus Resume Tip: always keep your resume current.  If you’re wrapping up a fall work experience, get that on your resume now even if you’re waiting until January to apply for jobs.  It’s much easier to update a resume when information is fresh in your head.  You can always go back and tailor the resume to specific jobs for which you end up applying.  But it’s best to at least have an up-to-date iteration of your resume.

We’ll share more tips and resources in the coming weeks.  And look out for a registration announcement for our 1/15 and 1/22 webinars.